presents
Senior Deputy City Prosecutor
Prosecuted complex criminal cases, including serious violent crimes
Partner in premiere international civil law firm
Endorsed early by Hon. Steve Cooley- Former District Attorney for Los Angeles County, numerous Superior Court Judges
Endorsed by labor unions and numerous law enforcement associations
A Judicial Candidate’s qualifications, temperament, integrity, and endorsements. I have been endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, Steve Cooley, Former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, three Labor Unions, Los Angeles African American Women Political Action Committee, the California Peace Officers Association and eighteen other law enforcement endorsements, Mexican American Bar Association, twenty-five elected officials; many judicial officers, over 90 endorsements.
I am the Senior Deputy City Prosecutor for the cities of Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. I have been employed as a prosecutor for twelve years. I am unique among my peers because prior to becoming a prosecutor, I was a civil litigator and defense attorney for ten years at one of the most respected and largest law firms in the country; Kirkland & Ellis LLP. I made partner at Kirkland and, among other responsibilities, was put in charge of the firm’s pro bono assistance program, managing a legal team that provided free legal services to those in need. Very few judicial candidates have that breadth of experience across the legal system.
This takes judicial initiative by courthouse administrators and judges and local bar associations to work collectively to address the problems. Some of this is being done now.
The bail system in California needs reform. The Constitution allows for reasonable bail. Courts should consider personal factors of a defendant in deciding on conditions of pretrial release and make use of non-monetary conditions, if possible, to ensure that the defendant returns to court and does not endanger the community.
Courts must consider the protection of the public, seriousness of the crime, and notably potential injury to the victim, in setting bail. But pre-trial release conditions should not be set solely based on a certain amount of money bail. Setting bail at an amount a defendant cannot afford to pay is the functional equivalent of a pretrial detention, or to setting no bail. Some less restrictive measures in lieu of high money bail could include house arrest, supervised rehabilitation and treatment facilities, electronic monitoring, and other technologies.
